New York Cosmos Claim Top Spot of the NASL with Win over Carolina
With Week 9 of the NASL Fall Season in the books, the New York Cosmos claim the top spot of the league following a 6-1 blowout over the Carolina RailHawks. FC Edmonton sits one point behind the Cosmos in the Combined Standings for spring and fall season. Edmonton is tied in points with New York in the Fall Season with goal differential lifting the Cosmos on top.
NASL Soccer News: The New York Cosmos climbed to the top of the Fall Season and Combined Standings after a dominant display over the Carolina RailHawks. Juan Arango and Jairo Arrieta scored two goals each in the victory on Saturday night.
FC Edmonton, which is now tied on points with New York, but trails on goal differential, couldn’t maintain its home winning streak with a draw against Puerto Rico FC on Sunday. A win would have equaled the Cosmos’ 10 straight home wins set earlier in the Fall Season and vaulted the Eddies back into sole possession of first place.
In other weekend action, Joe Cole powered the Tampa Bay Rowdies to a victory over Rayo OKC on Saturday night with two goals in the second half, while Miami FC and Minnesota United remained tied on points in fourth place with a draw. Ottawa Fury FC and Indy Eleven traded second-half goals to split the points on Sunday afternoon.
New York Cosmos 6, Carolina RailHawks 1
High-scoring New York erased an early Carolina lead and scored six unanswered goals, two each by Juan Arango and Jairo Arrieta, to defeat the RailHawks at Shuart Stadium on Saturday night. The victory moved the Cosmos into first place and kept alive New York’s unbeaten record at home this year.
Carolina (3W-3D-4L, 12 points) broke on top only six minutes into the game when Nazmi Albadawi stole the ball and led Matt Fondy into the New York (7-2-2, 23) penalty area. Fondy slid a shot through the legs of goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer to give the RailHawks the early lead on his sixth goal of the Fall Season. But it did not last long. Two minutes later, New York pressed forward and put pressure on the Carolina defense. Salvadoran international Andrés Flores rolled the ball to Arango at the top of the area and his left-footed shot to the top right corner eluded Akira Fitzgerald in the Carolina goal. It was Arango’s eighth goal of the season.
Arango scored his second goal of the game, in the 58th minute, to give the Cosmos a 2-1 lead. Sebastían Guenzatti made a nifty move on the left side, but had his shot stopped by Fitzgerald. Arango was there to chip the rebound into the open net. Two minutes later, Arrieta scored a highlight-reel goal, hitting a chip from 20 yards out that sailed over Fitzgerald, who had wandered off his line. It was his fourth goal of the year and second in as many weeks. Flores added the fourth goal, off a deflection, with about 12 minutes to play and Arrieta got his second of the game in the 82nd minute. Guenzatti capped the scoring in second-half injury time with his first goal of the year.
FC Edmonton 0, Puerto Rico FC 0
FC Edmonton’s home winning streak ended one game shy of a league record after a draw with Puerto Rico FC on Sunday at Clarke Field. The Eddies’ home winning streak ended at nine games, while the team’s overall winning streak was halted at five.
The Eddies (7-2-1, 23) had the best chance to score in the first half when Dustin Corea’s shot from distance was parried to safety by Puerto Rico (1-5-5, 8) goalkeeper Trevor Spbangenberg in the 29th minute.
The home side continued to press for a winner throughout the second half, but was unable to break down Puerto Rico’s defense. The Eddies finished the game with 10 men after Sabiney Nyassi received a red card for an off-the-ball incident.
FC Edmonton is tied on points with the New York Cosmos in first place, but New York has a superior goal differential.
Tampa Bay Rowdies 2, Rayo OKC 0
Tampa Bay ended a three-game losing streak and sent Rayo OKC to its third straight loss as Joe Cole scored twice in the Rowdies’ win at Al Lang Stadium on Saturday night.
Tampa Bay (3-2-6, 11) squandered an opportunity to take the lead in the first 10 minutes when Rayo OKC (3-4-4, 13) goalkeeper Daniel Fernandes dove to his left to deny Cole on a penalty kick. It was Cole’s lead pass to Georgi Hristov that forced Richard Menjivar to take down the Bulgarian striker in the penalty area. Fernandes came up big again in the 36th minute when he made a fingertip save on a shot by Eric Avila that was ticketed for the far, lower corner of the goal.
Miami FC 1, Minnesota United 1
Kwadwo Poku and Lance Laing each scored goals in the second half as Miami FC and Minnesota United played to a draw before a crowd of 9,739 at Ocean Bank Field on Saturday night. Miami FC, back home after a two-game road trip, has lost only once in its last eight games. Each team has played to a draw in its last two games.
After a scoreless first half, Miami FC (4-4-2, 16) took a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute. Calvin Rezende’s cross from the left flank was met by Poku at the far post for a tap in past Minnesota (4-4-3, 16) goalkeeper Sammy Ndjock. Jamaican international Laing knotted the score seven minutes later when he scored unassisted as he hit a left-footed volley from outside the penalty area that caught Miami FC goalkeeper Daniel Vega off his line.
Ottawa Fury FC 1, Indy Eleven 1
Ottawa Fury FC and Indy Eleven settled for a point apiece during a draw on Sunday afternoon at TD Place.
Ottawa (3-2-6, 11 points) opened the scoring when Tommy Stewart headed from in close after Ryan Williams’ free kick took a deflection off Jon Busch in the 59th minute. Stewart came into the game just three minutes prior to his goal.
Photo Credit: Steve Kingsman/Freestyle Photography
Indy, though, equalized shortly after in the 64th minute. Nemanja Vukovic’s free kick found the head of Eamon Zayed, who flicked the ball into the path of Brad Ring. After a bounce, the Indy (6-2-3, 20) midfielder sent a half volley into the far top corner to pull the game level.
The teams had to wait out a weather delay before playing the final six minutes of the game, but neither side could find the winner after action returned.
Source/Photo Credit: North American Soccer League
